If your loved one
is the only person you want to provide for after your death, then you’ll
probably want to put your entire estate into your special needs trust and hope
it lasts as long as your loved one needs help.

Many people,
however, want to leave money not just to a loved one with a disability, but
also to other family members or charities. Or you may have more money than you
think your loved one will need. In those situations, you’ll need to decide how
much to leave to the special needs trust and how much to others.

The answer depends
on:

Your family. Do you want to divvy your property up
evenly or leave a larger share to the special needs trust, on the theory that
your other loved ones can take care of themselves? There are no easy answers, but
talking with family members may help you reach a conclusion you feel good
about.

Your life insurance. Many parents of children with
disabilities obtain life insurance. This approach lets you leave a sizable sum
to the special needs trust under the life insurance policy and still provide
for your other family members out of your other property. Learn more about Life Insurance
on Nolo.com.

Your loved one’s life
expectancy. Grim as it is, you’ll have to take your loved
one’s life expectancy into account when deciding how much property to leave to
the special needs trust. To state the obvious, if your loved one’s life
expectancy is short, then the trust will need less money than if it were long.

Your loved one’s
needs. Although it involves some guesswork, you
need to think about what you want the trust funds to supply for your loved one,
and how much money that will take.

So, how should you
juggle all of these factors so that you come out with the right funding for
your special needs trust? The short answer is, you shouldn’t—unless you are a
professional in the area of financial management. It’s almost impossible to
come up with meaningful numbers without the right calculators, and expertise,
at your fingertips. Get help from a professional.

Here are three
companies that have created departments specially designed to assist in
financial planning for persons with disabilities:

MassMutual
Financial Group has a program called SpecialCare, dedicated to special needs
financial planning. In order to be a part of the program, MassMutual agents are
required to take a week-long course on special needs planning. Call
800-272-2216 or visit the company’s website, www.massmutual.com.

Merrill Lynch &
Co. has set up a program that focuses on financial planning for special needs
families and has a training program for its brokers. Call 877-456-7526 or visit
the company’s website, www.wealthmanagement.ml.com.

MetLife Inc. has
created a special needs unit to help families design financial plans and to
refer people to groups that can help direct families to government benefits and
services. Call 877-MetDESK
(638-3375) or visit the company’s website, www.metlife.com.